


"Why are all of the lights off?"

by Sydlee3



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, blind!yamaguchi, there's some blood at the beginning but nothing major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3872413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sydlee3/pseuds/Sydlee3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"As cliche as it was, it really had started out a normal Saturday." Yamaguchi is in a devestating car accident, and now he and Tsukishima have to build their relationship again from the start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Why are all of the lights off?"

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't walk across the street and listen to music at the same time.

I.

As cliche as it was, it really had started out a normal Saturday. When he’d gotten the text from Yamaguchi asking if he wanted to do something together, sure he did, because they were friends, and friends hung out. Not to mention Yamaguchi had seemed kind of down lateyl, and Tsukishima was starting to worry about him.

So, he grabbed his wallet and his headphones, and threw on an old band t-shirt and was out the door. He met up with his friend by the cafe where they usually hung out, and he spotted the freckled boy sitting at one of the outdoor tables, smiling his usual vibrant smile of his and waving like a fool.

“Hey, Tsukki!”

“Hey.” He slid into the chair across from the smaller boy, and stared at Yamaguchi, waiting for him to start chatting like usual, but he seemed kind of... spacey. So, Tsukishima being the ass that he was, snapped his fingers impatiently in his friends face.

Yamaguchi brushed it off with a chuckle, and a “Sorry Tsukki.”, and then began to blither on mindlessly about something or another. Tsukishima felt himself relax with the sound of voice, and it took a, “Tsukki? Are you even listening to me?” to snap him out of it.

Yamaguchi sighed, but continued anyways. “Whatever. I was just saying, that band you like is having a signing today and I thought you wanted to go, but if you don’t that’s okay too. Actually, I need a new pair of shoes, too, and-”

A waiter came over, and asked what they wanted, and both of them ordered their usuals. Nothing happened that was out of the ordinary, and the two of them fell into the same routine they’d been in for... god only knows how long.

After that, they started the walk to the record shop downtown that actually carried the music Tsukishima listened to, (some sort of alternative trash), and he noticed that his and Yamaguchi’s hands were brushing more than usual. He didn’t comment on it. Instead, he slid his sparkling white headphones over his head, and turned up the volume, trying to drown it all out, and not paying attention in the slightest.

In fact, it wasn’t until he felt hands against his back, pushing him forward, and a rushed “Tsukki! Look out!” that he even turned around. When he did, he was horrified. He had tripped over the curb, dropping his phone on the crosswalk that he hadn’t remembered seeing, and his glasses had nearly flown off of his face. But Yamaguchi...

Yamaguchi was lying in a heap about three feet away from the black sedan with a Yamaguchi-sized dent in the front. The driver, a young woman, was getting out, and calling a number, (hopefully 119), and a few civilians had run over to him.

Tsukishima pushed past all of them, to his best friend’s side. “Yamaguchi! Yamaguchi are you... Jesus, are you okay?”

There was a small groan, and then, “Tsukki?”. His best and only friend’s face had a streak of blood running down the side, and he had curled in on himself. His dark eyes were unfocused, and starting to glaze over, and he reached blindly forward.

Tsukishima grabbed his hand and held it, feeling tears slide down his face for the first time since he was a kid. “Yama- Tadashi. Stay with me, Tadashi. Just...”

He head the sirens, and he didn’t move, and he forced his way into the ambulance, even as they were strapping the freckled boy to a gurney. He sat through the shouts of “We need to stabilize his blood pressure” and “Serious internal bleeding over here!”. He didn’t let go of his friend's hand once.

When they got to the hospital, Yamaguchi was wheeled away, and Tsukki was left in the waiting room, pacing. Soon, Yamaguchi’s parents arrived, and were sort of shocked to see him there, but didn't seem overly surprised.

“Tsukishima-kun? What are you doing here?” His mom smiled at the blond with worry plain in her voice.

“I- I was there. When he was hit. I was... I was listening to music, and I didn’t even know what was happening until he pushed me out of the way, and then I saw him, and now if he d-dies, it’s going to be all my fault and-” Tsukishima burst into a fresh round of tears, and he was surprised to feel the comforting arms of Yamaguchi’s mother and father wrapping around him. He didn’t need to feel the droplets on his shirt to know that all three of them were crying.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t blame you.” He felt his blood run cold. Would he, though?. When he thought about it, he was a horrible friend. Yamaguchi had always cared about him, tried to make sure that he was okay, and even when his life was on the line, he had put “Tsukki” first. Even when they were in elementary and middle school, it was always "Tsukki" this and "Tsukki" that, and constant apologies that he really only meant about half of the time.

The three of them broke apart, sitting in separate chairs and waiting for the time to pass. Eventually the doctor came out, sighing, and they braced themselves for the worst.

He led the three of them back to the room where Yamaguchi lay, far paler and smaller-looking than he should be. There was tape over most of him, from the side of his head, to a cast on his right arm, and the hospital gown tied loosely around him revealed that his entire waist was taped.

His eyes were closed, and he was resting peacefully. Tsukishima immediately ran over and grabbed his hand, and his mother and father went to his other side, while the doctor stood at the foot of his bed, and cleared his throat.

“Yamaguchi is in great condition, considering the damage he took. It was a straight on collision, and the survival rate isn’t great for those. He lost a lot of blood, and the internal bleeding was a nightmare, but thankfully we were able to take care of that. He has six broken ribs, and one of his lungs was punctured, and as you can see, he broke his arm. We know that he has a concussion, but other than that, it looks like everything else is fine.”

Tsukishima tensed, but nodded anyways. For now, that was enough. He sat at his friend’s bedside, rubbing circles into his hand until he fell asleep.

 

II.

When he woke up that morning, Yamaguchi and his parents were still asleep. It was better that way. He readjusted his glasses, and stretched. A nurse walked in and changed out the IV that Yamaguchi had apparently been hooked up to, and spared him a smile before hurrying on her way.

Then, he felt  slight stirring as Yamaguchi woke. “Mmmm... Where am I? This doesn’t feel like my bed.” His friend’s eyes were still closed, and Tsukishima pressed the button to call the doctor, and nudged Yamaguchi’s parents awake. Both of them nearly tackled their son in a hug, just as the doctor walked in.

“Good morning, everyone. Yamaguchi.”

He finally opened his eyes. “Good mor- Hey. Why are all of the lights off?”

Everyone froze.

“It’s not very funny.” The freckled boy stated matter-of-factly.

“Yamaguchi, all of the lights are on...” The doctor trailed off.

“Oh no.” Yamaguchi’s mother breathed it, but it echoed across the whole room, and her eyes widened in shock as she took in the news.

“Wait... what happened yesterday.” Yamaguchi continued, oblivious to what his mother was saying. “I was out with Tsukki, and then there was that car... Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. I’m in the hospital, aren’t I?”

He turned in the general direction of his friend, but Tsukishima was thinking the exact same thing.

The doctor frowned. “Well, we have to do some tests, but it looks like Yamaguchi is... blind? I can’t tell if it’s temporary or not” He turned to Yamaguchi’s parents and began to explain the procedure, but Tsukishima had stopped listening. Instead, he reached out and took Yamaguchi’s hand, in a movement that was quickly becoming familiar, and began rubbing small, comforting circles into it. Yamaguchi was shaking like a leaf, and his entire body was stiff.

“Tsukki?”

“Hm.”

“Do you think I can play again?”

Wasn’t that the million dollar question. “I don’t know.”

Yamaguchi was quiet, but he didn’t let go of Tsukishima’s hand.

 

III.

It turned out that in the accident, Yamaguchi had taken damage to the optic nerve, and it didn’t look reversible. Tsukishima was there when he received the diagnosis, and held him as he cried.

“I... I worked so hard, Tsukki. So hard to not be a burden anymore, and then.... In a moment, it’s gone.” He dried some tears from his face, but he was still sniffling, unseeing eyes still flowing lightly with tears that he shouldn’t be shedding.

Tsukishima pet his hair, and pulled him close to his chest. “I’m so sorry. You lost it because of me.”

“What? No. As if!” There was a small chuckle from the freckled boy, who pulled back suddenly with a smile and Tsukki frowned.

“No really. If I hadn’t been an irresponsible jackass, you’d be fine, and you could have kept everything you’d worked for.” Tsukishima was kind of upset. How was Yamaguchi still so... enthusiastic? This was one of the only times in his life that he'd apologized and he really only did that when people deserved it, so he didn't see why Yamaguchi wasn't accpeting it.

Yamaguchi sighed. “For whatever it’s worth, I don’t blame you.”

Tsukishima froze. “How? I just ripped out everything you did from under your feet, and you aren’t even angry about it!” He was shouting now, and he saw Yamaguchi wince.

“Please keep it down, Tsukki.”

“Sorry.” Again. He'd apologized more today than he had in probably his entire life.

“And by the way, I stand by what I said. I’m the one who jumped in front of that car, so now this is my problem. But... I think... I think I’m going to need a guide now. Sorry.”

Tsukishima would have laughed if it was anybody else. Instead, he grabbed his friend’s hand and squeezed. “Shut up, Yamaguchi."

 

IV.

After a few weeks of physical therapy, Yamaguchi could walk again. He didn’t necessarily know where he was going, though. His hearing had also improved, and he could make his way around okay. His parents thought about getting him a dog, but instead joked around, saying “You already have a dog. You call him Tsukki.” As horrible as it was, in that moment, Tsukishima was glad that Yamaguchi couldn’t see his face.

 

V.

His first day back as school was... interesting. People were all around him, asking tons of questions, and offering plenty of congratulations, until Tsukishima reached his limit, and glared at all of them to make them go away.

Class was similar to usual, except that Yamaguchi had gotten permission to record all of his lectures, and even though he could still write, he almost never made it onto the lines. It was at the end of class, when the teacher gave everyone some time to themselves, that Tsukishima noticed something off.

Yamaguchi was tense, sitting rigidly in his seat.

“Yamaguchi. You look tense.” Ah, yes. A typical display of the Eloquence of Tsukishima Kei.

His friend’s head turned, a bit robotically, to the sound of his voice, and smiled.  “Sorry, Tsukki. All of the noise is a little disorienting.”

“Tch. Don’t apologize.” It got to him, that even though all of this, Yamaguchi was still apologizing to him, if anything, it should have been the other way around. He wanted to yell at the whole class to shut up, but he got the feeling that Yamaguchi wouldn't like it.

Finally, the bell rang, and class was dismissed. Yamaguchi stood up, and Tsukishima made his way over to him. Yamaguchi got up too, but nearly stumbled after a few steps.

“Tsukki? Can I um... Can I hold your sleeve? You know, to keep myself from falling on my face?”

Tsukishima nodded, before realizing that his friend didn’t see it, and instead grabbed his hand, and placed it on his sleeve, and he heard Yamaguchi sigh in relief. He was going to have to get used to talking more.

The day went mostly like that, with Yamaguchi grabbing Tsukishima’s sleeve in the hallways, and the two of them together all of the time. Somehow everyone at school knew about Yamaguchi’s blindness, and some of them had the gall to ask about it. Tsukishima did his best to scare them off.

Since he didn’t really have anything better to do, Yamaguchi followed him to volleyball practice.

He sat down next to Takeda, and at a passing glance, nothing looked out of the ordinary. But Tsukishima could see the strain in Yamaguchi's face as he tried to pick apart the sounds. He saw how much he'd taken for granted, as he watched his teammates shout commands, and the balls thwacking the ground, information he hadn't thought about before, that Yamaguchi now didn’t have to decipher what was going on around him.

After practice, Yamaguchi stood outside the gym waiting for him. “Tsukki?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think you could... walk me home?” His face was bright red, and it occurred to Tsukishima that he was... embarassed?

“Sure.” He tried to make sure his voice gave nothing away, but with Yamaguchi’s increased hearing...

At first they walked in silence, the freckled boy still holding his sleeve, but suddenly, Tsukishima looked over to see tears streaming down Yamaguchi’s face.

He reached over, putting his hand on the smaller boy’s shoulder. “Hey, Yamaguchi? Are you okay? Is something hurting?”

Yamaguchi looked in the direction of his voice, and he sniffled. “I just... I used to be able to do this on my own. I didn't need to bother you so much for simple crap.”

“You aren’t bothering me.” Tsukishima was almost taken aback. How could his friend think that he was a burden?

“No, you think that now, but I am. Do you really want to be around me all the time, helping me do stupid stuff like walking? Stuff that normal people can do without any effort!?”

Tsukishima moved his hand into Yamaguchi's, grabbing his hand and squeezing. “I really don’t mind. And don’t beat yourself up about normal people. Normal people... well, normal people wouldn’t have pushed me out of the way.” He hadn't expected to say it, but it was the truth.

Yamaguchi nodded, and Tsukishima could tell he wasn’t convinced, but he had no idea how to get it through his best friend’s head that he wasn’t just a problem.

 

VI.

Two months later, Yamaguchi was pretty much acclimated to walking around school, and even though he still held on to Tsukishima’s sleeve in the hallways. He was getting used to recording all of his lectures, and his grades were great, (better than Tsukishima’s. Another tribute to his hard work). He still came to volleyball practice every day, and he did his best in terms of getting water and cheering, and assisting Kiyoko as manager, nodding and scribbling notes enthusiastically.

It still surprised Tsukishima, no matter how down Yamaguchi got, he kept going, and working harder than ever.

Tsukishima was beginning to get in the habit of spacing out, and Tanaka nearly served the ball into his head. He made a “tch” sound in the back of his throat, and he heard Yamaguchi snicker. The freckled boy’s hearing had only improved, and almost nothing could be slipped past him now.

After practice, Yamaguchi pulled him aside, grabbing  volleyball, and leading the way to the yard outside the gym. He almost slipped on the step, but he caught himself, and to anyone but Tsukishima, the action wouldn’t have given anything away.

“Hey, Tsukki?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you... Can you, um, toss to me?” His face blushed a bright crimson.

“Sure, I guess.” He threw a pass, meant to be bumped, but Yamaguchi put his hands up and tried to set it, and the ball hit him in the dead center of his chest, bouncing off and rolling away. Had it been anyone else, under any other circumstances, Tsukishima would have snickered, and made some sort of crude comment. But this was his friend, so, he remained silent. Instead, he went over to the ball, picked it up, and with a “Bump this one.”, threw it in Yamaguchi’s direction again.

This time, he hit the ball, but it went careening off in another direction. Yamaguchi laughed. “Normally, I would have hit that. Pathetic.”

His use of the word irked Tsukishima. “No, it’s not. Let’s try again.”

And so it went, late into the night, and by the end Yamaguchi’s arms were red, and both of them were breathing hard. “You’re improving. It’s good.”

Yamaguchi smiled. Tsukishima grabbed his hand, and walked him home.

 

VII.

A week later, they had a match, and Karasuno won. Yamaguchi cheered harder than anyone else.

 

VIII.

The next day, Yamaguchi wasn’t at school, or practice, which made the entire team worried. Even Kageyama seemed on edge, and no one was fully focused on the drills. But, he walked in halfway through practice, and everyone stopped. Nishinoya paused mid-receive, and the ball fell awkwardly to the ground.

Yamaguchi blushed, and could sense that all eyes were on him. “Sorry I’m late! I had to go to the doctor. Please don’t let me interrupt anything!” Daichi managed to round everyone up and get all of them on task, and the mood in the gym lightened tenfold.

Takeda walked over and led him to a seat, and was talking animatedly with Yamaguchi. He called Ukai and Daichi over, and both began to grin, and Ukai patted Yamaguchi on the back. Then, he turned, and called everyone over.

Everyone sat in a circle around the coach, who was grinning like one of the Nekoma students. “Okay, kids. I know that this probably could’ve waited until practice was over, but I have a great announcement. All of you know about Yamaguchi and... and the accident,” he trailed off, and Suga nodded to Daichi to continue.

“Well, he’s just obtained the proper doctor’s notes, and he can officially play!”

The news was met with cheers and clapping, and Noya grabbed Yamaguchi into a congratulatory hug. Tsukishima had never heard of anything like this before, but he figured that if anyone could do it, Yamaguchi could.

 

IX.

After that, Yamaguchi was officially included in practices, running laps, and trying to receives, spikes, and serves. There had been a couple of accidents, for sure, but nothing so serious that Yamaguchi didn’t just get up and brush it off.

Sure, he wasn’t the best player, but his work ethic was unparallelled. If coach said to do five laps, he did eight. If he said practice receives, Yamaguchi took it to heart, and asked Tsukishima to help him practice outside of school. He even re-learned the jump float serve, a serve no one else on the team had perfected even _with_ their vision.

But today was his first practice match in a long time, and it was against Aoba Josai. They lost the first set by a narrow margin, and the odds weren’t looking good for the second either, when the coach made a call, and rotated Tsukishima out. Yamaguchi was going to do his first official pinch serve since losing his vision.

As soon as he walked out, the some players on other team started whispering.

“Isn’t that guy blind?”

“Why is he on the field?”

“He’s probably going to miss.”

Tsukishima wanted to fight all of them, but one withering look from Daichi was enough to keep him under control. And it made it all the more satisfactory when the ball left Yamaguchi’s hand with unparallelled grace, and landed right in the center of the court. He could tell that the other boy was nervous, but not like in his first match. This was the nervousness of someone who was confident, but not arrogant, and was willing to do their best, and that was what he did.

The entire Karasuno team cheered, and even Kageyama congratulated the pinch server on a job well done. The freckled boy was blushing from all of the praise, and his unseeing eyes found his way to Tsukishima, who couldn’t help but smile.

He got in one more serve, but that one didn’t technically count, because Yamaguchi stepped over the line. The referee looked conflicted about calling it, but Yamaguchi shook it off, and walked back onto the sidelines, and Tsukishima stepped back inside them.

Before he went, though, he grabbed Yamaguchi’s hand and squeezed. The other boy squeezed back.

 

X.

Two years later, it was the last match of semifinals, and the Crows of Karasuno were facing off against the Swans of Shiratorizawa.

Yamaguchi proudly led his team onto the court, the number one jersey fazing almost the entire crowd. Tsukki could hear the murmurs, of “Wait, is that captain blind?”, and instead of getting angry, he only smirked.

The game started, and the other team served first. Yamaguchi received flawlessly, and the ball went right to Kageyama, who expertly tossed to Hinata, who smacked the ball out of the air with lightning speed. Clearly, Shiratorizawa didn’t see it coming.

The score was even for most of the game, but Karasuno surged ahead at the end of the first set, winning 25-21. During the break, Ukai explained that Yamaguchi would sit out for the first half of the game, and would be substituted with one of the second years. Tsukishima saw his friend wince, but didn’t comment on it, instead patting his friend on the back. “Don’t sweat it. You’ll be back in there in no time”

Yamaguchi nodded, and walked over in the general direction of the bench, but didn’t sit, and cheered for the first half of the game, at which point Shiratorizawa had a three point lead, and the score was 14-17 in their favor. Then, the captain walked back onto the court, and Tsukishima smirked when he heard Shiratorizawa’s libero and both middle blockers suck in a deep breath.

The ended up winning 28-26. Just about everyone was crying, from the mess that was Kageyama, to the firecracker known as Hinata, and Yamaguchi was just a total wreck. He jumped, and nearly tripped, but Tsukki managed to catch him, and in an uncharacteristic display of affection, wrapped him in a hug. Yamaguchi clung to him, and Tsukishima could feel his tears leaking into his jersey, but if he was being totally honest with himself, there were tears prickling the back of his eyes as well.

 

XI.

That night at a celebratory dinner, (willingly paid for by Ukai and Takeda), the team rented out the old restaurant. When the team got there, they were greeted by a smiling Daichi and Suga, a skittish Asahi, and the devilish duo that was Nishinoya and Tanaka. Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita stood in the background, excited, but they didn’t have the same presence. Even Kiyoko was there, offering a small smile with brighter eyes than the first years had ever seen.

Congratulations flowed throughout the whole room, and that night they were treated to a fabulous dinner. Although, Tsukishima’s favorite part was the fact that no one noticed him holding Yamaguchi’s hand under the table the whole time.

 

XII.

After that, they started dating, (to no one’s surprise), but nothing really changed between the two of them. Yamaguchi still called him Tsukki, and he still told Yamaguchi to shut up (without really meaning it), and then Yamaguchi would grab his hand. The only different thing was the kisses, which came in abundance, and the hugs, which were once just a social convention, but now another comfort that Yamaguchi could provide.

Yamaguchi was a great kisser. Even though he couldn’t see, he always managed to capture just the right amount of emotion, and impressing Tsukishima. So, one day, when both of them were in University, (They picked the same one. Obviously), and Yamaguchi was lying on his bed reading, Tsukishima surprised him by placing a kiss on his forehead.

Yamaguchi giggled, and grabbed his boyfriend, pulling him on top of himself, and laughing. The blond only smirked as Yamaguchi put a hand to his face, making a snide comment about how red it was, (“Like a strawberry, Tsukki!”), and kissing his whole face.

Tsukishima rolled to the side, and grabbed Yamaguchi’s waist, cuddling him, and Yamaguchi simply relaxed into his touch. He grabbed Tsukki’s hands, and kissed them too, before simply lying there.

“Hey, Tsukki?” He asked, after a while.

“Mmh.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tsukishima grunted. “What was that for?”

“I used to read your face all the time, and tell what kind of mood you were in. You probably had something to do before I, um, started kissing you and everything.”

“No, I didn’t. And you still read me better than anyone else ever has.” It never failed to upset Tsukishima, his best friend, now boyfriend thinking that he was nothing but a burden.

The freckled boy sighed. “I guess.”

Tsukishima smiled, breathing in the scent of his boyfriend’s shampoo. “Hey, Yamaguchi?”

“Yeah.”

“Did I ever tell you? Why I stayed your friend, even after the accident?”

“No," His eyebrows creased adorably.  "I don’t think so. I assumed it was because you felt responsible for me.”

“No." Tsukishima responded, maybe a little too quickly, expecting his answer. "You see, if it was that, I probably would have left after high school.”

“Really? Well, I guess that makes sense. But why did you stay then?”

“Because I love you.” Tsukishima was a person of few words, even if he'd become more talkative over the years, but he still meant what he said.

Yamaguchi chuckled,and turned kissing his boyfriend's nose. “Well, Tsukki, you’re in luck, because I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love blind AU's. And also comments. So please leave some of those. Thanks.


End file.
